which Russian river cruise

We are researching the Russian river cruises.

1. Many people recommend staying in hotels in the cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg rather than on the boat because traffic is terrible.

2. Do any of the river cruise companies use canal boats to get to and from the city centers? Or is that necessary and quicker?

3. It appears to me that the nicest ship is the Katarina???? Any other particularly nice?

4. What are the "don't miss" sites?

5. Any other suggestions or questions I haven't asked?

Thanks in advance?

June

In St. Petersburg, don't miss:

Hermitage

Catherine's Palace (Amber Room)

Peterhof

Yusopov's Palace

I just booked the Russian River Cruise with Vantage. You might look into them as they include airfare from several cities and most shore excursions are included. They might not include wine with meals, but wine is a lot cheaper than shore excursions! We've done 4 trips with Vantage prior to this one and have NEVER had a bad tour manager/guide. The food has ranged from very good to outstanding and the ships are lovely, clean and modern, with wifi included on most of them.

May I suggest you pick up either Frommer's or Fodor's Moscow and St. Petersburg. Both of them will give you valuable info on sights, hotels, restaurants and little things you should now.

June1, we are also researching your topic so we will be following this thread closely. We think the "new" AMA boat now has the best range of cabin selections. We are interested in booking a suite. AMA apparently offers the largest suites at least for now. But other "new" boats are in the works and it will be at least 2013 before we book this trip.

We booked with Uniworld - after watching prices and comparing the itineraries for a good 6 months. We were leaning towards Viking or Uniworld - primarily because their package is a day longer than the AMA tour... (figured if we were going that far, we would like the extra day...). Uniworld had a great sale - and we jumped.

We aren't extending either end - and don't know if we will book our own air yet - but Uniworld includes transfers even if you arrange your own air.

We didn't even look at Vantage or GC - as we live in Canada --> and TICO (Travel Industry Council of Ontario) doesn't cover them. If either company went bankrupt, we would be on our own.

We usually travel lowest category - so the balcony didn't even come into play for us. My priority was hotel style beds - and "proper" bathroom - which Uniworld, AMA and Viking all have.

Have fun planning!!

We also booked with Uniworld. Like franski, we chose it over AMA Waterways because it offered an extra day as a day of leisure in Moscow and over Viking because Uniworld's transfers were complimentary where as Viking you had to purchase your air through them to get complimentary transfers. Also, we're going to China this fall with Uniworld and they give past guests a $100 per person discount on cruises.

I do wish I had come across Vantage before we booked. Their tours stay in central hotels in Moscow and St. Petersburg. One of few consistent negatives I do read about Russian river cruises is the time spent on the tour bus going back and forth to/from the boat to the city centers due to traffic. I don't know of anyone using canal boats to get you to the city center, but I did read on one of the Amakatarina threads that AMA Waterways does that in St. Petersburg, but don't know if that's correct or not. The person who stated that had yet to go on their cruise.

If you're interested in a fairly detailed description of Uniworld's cruise, you can find it here:

http://www.uniworld.com/Before-You-Go/Cruise-Companion

Happy planning!!!

Tim

We are booked on Vantage leaving in 28 days. We booked the pre-Russia trip to Kiev and Post-Russia bus trip to the three Baltic countries. 25 days of fun.

AMA, GCT, and others have great trips, but Vantage offers the downtown hotels in Moscow and St. Pete. You avoid the traffic from the boat to see the sites. The Moscow hotel is great, rooms normally go for $1100 per night. It is less than a mile from Red Square. The St. Pete hotel is great as well.

Check out these links.

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-information/travel/mowgr-moscow-marriott-grand-hotel/

http://www.radisson.ru/hotel-stpetersburg

We are booked on Vantage leaving in 28 days. We booked the pre-Russia trip to Kiev and Post-Russia bus trip to the three Baltic countries. 25 days of fun.

 

AMA, GCT, and others have great trips, but Vantage offers the downtown hotels in Moscow and St. Pete. You avoid the traffic from the boat to see the sites. The Moscow hotel is great, rooms normally go for $1100 per night. It is less than a mile from Red Square. The St. Pete hotel is great as well.

Check out these links.

 

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-information/travel/mowgr-moscow-marriott-grand-hotel/

 

http://www.radisson.ru/hotel-stpetersburg

Hotels look very nice, I checked them out before I booked:D I can't wait to read your trip report and impressions of the Tolstoy. Have a great trip.

We are booked on Vantage leaving in 28 days. We booked the pre-Russia trip to Kiev and Post-Russia bus trip to the three Baltic countries. 25 days of fun.

 

AMA, GCT, and others have great trips, but Vantage offers the downtown hotels in Moscow and St. Pete. You avoid the traffic from the boat to see the sites. The Moscow hotel is great, rooms normally go for $1100 per night. It is less than a mile from Red Square. The St. Pete hotel is great as well.

Check out these links.

 

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-information/travel/mowgr-moscow-marriott-grand-hotel/

 

http://www.radisson.ru/hotel-stpetersburg

We chose Vantage for the same reasons as 4774Papa listed. But we have to wait till next summer! We are also doing the post Baltic add on.

Looking forward to your trip report when you return.

To HydroKitty, 4774Papa, franski, Rxgrad98, and others,

Please give a bit of information and opinions on your Russian river cruise when you return so those of us looking at a 2012 cruise can make a decison that is right for us.

4774 Papa,

Thanks for the hotel links as they look very nice.

Thanks for the help,

June

June -

We're not going until next year (May 30th) - so won't be much help... sorry.

Fran

4774Papa - We will be enormously interested in reading about your adventure on the Vantage cruise next month, as we are trying to decide amongst Viking, Vantage, AMA, and Uniworld for our Volga River cruise next year. It appears that Vantage is using the MS Tolstoy, which AMA used until they switched to the new AmaKatarina this year. Any and all info you might provide about the boat and the total experience will be most welcome.

By the way, although the hotel in Moscow, Marriott Moscow Grand, is a fine hotel, and a popular one for business travelers since it opened in 1997 or so, the base room rate is nowhere near US$1100 per night. That figure is two or three times the rack rate for standard rooms at the hotel. Not trying to be difficult -just trying to keep things somewhat accurate, as I understand them. Perhaps I am unaware of the level of rooms that Vantage books at the Marriott.

In any event, we eagerly await your comments, reflections, and review of the trip.

Cheers, Fred

4774Papa - We will be enormously interested in reading about your adventure on the Vantage cruise next month, as we are trying to decide amongst Viking, Vantage, AMA, and Uniworld for our Volga River cruise next year. It appears that Vantage is using the MS Tolstoy, which AMA used until they switched to the new AmaKatarina this year. Any and all info you might provide about the boat and the total experience will be most welcome.

 

By the way, although the hotel in Moscow, Marriott Moscow Grand, is a fine hotel, and a popular one for business travelers since it opened in 1997 or so, the base room rate is nowhere near US$1100 per night. That figure is two or three times the rack rate for standard rooms at the hotel. Not trying to be difficult -just trying to keep things somewhat accurate, as I understand them. Perhaps I am unaware of the level of rooms that Vantage books at the Marriott.

 

In any event, we eagerly await your comments, reflections, and review of the trip.

 

Cheers, Fred

Fred, that $1100 rate what what showed when I checked on the internet. I am sure that cheaper rates are available. Been checking the Restaurants in the area around the hotel. Most are very expensive. We do have a few meals to buy on our own and will look for restaurants that ordinary Russians visit.

June and Hibiscus: What dates are you going? I depart on August 21, 2012 out of JFK. Hydrokitty

June and Hibiscus: What dates are you going? I depart on August 21, 2012 out of JFK. Hydrokitty

We depart on July 24, 2012 out of Boston (we'll fly from western Canada a few days earlier), and we are also doing the 7 day Baltic Capitals add on afterwards.

This will be my second river cruise, but a first for hubs - we're both excited!

In May we cruised from Barcelona (neat city) in the Med. and on to England on a 17 day HAL back to back cruise. We spent a few days both before and after in Europe. In the fall we are planning an Adriatic Cruise so Russia will have to be next year probably May or June.

I like to plan ahead when possible and try to get as much info as I can prior to deciding although a good sale can change my plans.

4774Papa - We will be enormously interested in reading about your adventure on the Vantage cruise next month, as we are trying to decide amongst Viking, Vantage, AMA, and Uniworld for our Volga River cruise next year. It appears that Vantage is using the MS Tolstoy, which AMA used until they switched to the new AmaKatarina this year. Any and all info you might provide about the boat and the total experience will be most welcome.

I walked through the Tolstoy a couple of times when we were sharing a dock. It's an old, tired ship with too many artificial plants in the dark and dreary lobby. Cabins are about half the size of Amakatarina. You can kind of tell from the window placements.

AMA used hydrofoils most of the time in St. Petersburg to get back and forth from the boat. We also had lunch in a restaurant in St. Petersburg (paid for and organized by the ship)

They used a canal boat for our lunch one day in Moscow so we did not have to go back to the ship. The canal boat tour was wonderful!

I just booked the Russian River Cruise with Vantage. You might look into them as they include airfare from several cities and most shore excursions are included.

What river cruise line doesn't include the excursions?

I looked at "air fare included" companies and found that with some offers I did better paying the regular no air fare price and booking my own air. Sometimes it's hard to find the actual land prices without the included air fare.

Smart travelers are aware of marketing ploys. Every company uses them but it's up to the consumer to find out if they are getting a true bargain or a marketing ploy. There are real bargains out there, but you have to do your homework.

What river cruise line doesn't include the excursions?

 

I looked at "air fare included" companies and found that with some offers I did better paying the regular no air fare price and booking my own air. Sometimes it's hard to find the actual land prices without the included air fare.

 

Smart travelers are aware of marketing ploys. Every company uses them but it's up to the consumer to find out if they are getting a true bargain or a marketing ploy. There are real bargains out there, but you have to do your homework.

Very true Kellie Poodle, although for Russia I found that Vantage on Lufthansa (bus. class) was cheaper than if I booked it myself, and I get transfers from airport to hotel along with my plane tix. Some of the lines will only include walking tours of the various ports, but not tours "off the beaten path"...like Heidelburg, Salzburg, Schoenbrun in Vienna, etc. Vantage has very few extra options, which is a feature I liked when doing research for my first river cruise. Now that I've traveled with them 4 times I no longer feel the need to look into other companies. I think for the most part all of the major river cruise companies charge around the same price and offer the things.

Hi,

Just returned from a trip with our granddaughter to London and Paris and learned that Moscow has joined the list of most expensive cities in the World. So if anyone goes in earlier or stays later, don't be surprised at the prices for food, etc.

Hope everyone has a great time on their respective Russian river cruises. Thanks to Kellie Poodle's comments re the AMA Katarina, I am really looking forward to a great tour in September.

Sheila

We have traveled with Vantage 5 times and have always been very pleased. We are considering the Russian cruise with Vantage largely because of the hotel stays, but the MS Tolstoy appears to be an older barge and has very small cabins. Has anyone been on the barge and what is it like? Thanks.:)

If you go to the top of the "River and Canal Cruise" page, put in MS Tolstoy in the "Search Mode", you should be able to bring up all the comments re that river boat.

Sheila

First question I would ask. Do I want a land based hotel in Moscow & St. Petersburg or use the boat for your hotel. We choose the boat. Mostly because of the packing/unpacking issue & language barrier in Russia. Also our research at the time September 2010, showed hotel rooms & restaurant meals to be extremely expensive. For the extra time we would gain in these cities, was it worth the expense ?

Sounds like Advantage has a package deal that accommodates land -based stays in the big cities. I would however find out what hotels they use, as they could be a great distance from the sites you plan to visit. ( what would you be the gaining ) Everyone knows about the traffic issues in each of these cities. Meals on your own also could be very expensive.

St. Petersburg, What not to miss.

St. Isaac's Cathedral

Hermitage Museum ( it will be crowded, so be prepared )

St. Catherine's Place ( this place is huge... )

Yusupov Palace ( different because owned by a wealthy

family & Rasputin murdered here 1916 )

Peter & Paul Fortress & Cathedral

Church of Spilled Blood ( went back on our own to enjoy &

took inside tour, a great favorite )

A Canal Boat Ride

Peterhof Fountains ( huge park with over 150 fountains this

this is a must see... )

Moscow

Red Square, Red Square, Red Square, an amazing place

Kremlin ( very heavy security & no pictures )

State Armory

Tretyakov Gallery ( just Russian Artists ) great learning

experience for us, nice gallery. We

did this on our own, with audio guide.

Moscow Circus ( great fun, Russians do things in this Circus

you can't see in the USA )

Moscow at Night ( city is totally different & great picture

taking oppertunities )

Best shopping bargins Uglich

Our boat " TIKI DON " has very nice cabins with plenty of storage, a good bed, & a nice bathroom. Housekeeping aboard this vessel was excellent & the crew pleasant.

You have many choices, do your homework & this trip will be great. ( We did not use Viking, because we do not like the idea of pullman beds ) however you will spend little time in your cabin except to shower & sleep. The activity level on our trip, kept us very busy, with little down time.

Good Luck, John

I thought I'd share this photo. I don't know which line charters this boat, but we saw it while sailing and everyone thought NCL (Norwegian Cruise Lines) as the "graffiti" on the bow looks just like an NCL ship

First question I would ask. Do I want a land based hotel in Moscow & St. Petersburg or use the boat for your hotel. We choose the boat. Mostly because of the packing/unpacking issue & language barrier in Russia. Also our research at the time September 2010, showed hotel rooms & restaurant meals to be extremely expensive. For the extra time we would gain in these cities, was it worth the expense ?

Sounds like Advantage has a package deal that accommodates land -based stays in the big cities. I would however find out what hotels they use, as they could be a great distance from the sites you plan to visit. ( what would you be the gaining ) Everyone knows about the traffic issues in each of these cities. Meals on your own also could be very expensive.

 

St. Petersburg, What not to miss.

St. Isaac's Cathedral

Hermitage Museum ( it will be crowded, so be prepared )

St. Catherine's Place ( this place is huge... )

Yusupov Palace ( different because owned by a wealthy

family & Rasputin murdered here 1916 )

Peter & Paul Fortress & Cathedral

Church of Spilled Blood ( went back on our own to enjoy &

took inside tour, a great favorite )

A Canal Boat Ride

Peterhof Fountains ( huge park with over 150 fountains this

this is a must see... )

 

Moscow

Red Square, Red Square, Red Square, an amazing place

Kremlin ( very heavy security & no pictures )

State Armory

Tretyakov Gallery ( just Russian Artists ) great learning

experience for us, nice gallery. We

did this on our own, with audio guide.

Moscow Circus ( great fun, Russians do things in this Circus

you can't see in the USA )

Moscow at Night ( city is totally different & great picture

taking oppertunities )

 

Best shopping bargins Uglich

 

Our boat " TIKI DON " has very nice cabins with plenty of storage, a good bed, & a nice bathroom. Housekeeping aboard this vessel was excellent & the crew pleasant.

You have many choices, do your homework & this trip will be great. ( We did not use Viking, because we do not like the idea of pullman beds ) however you will spend little time in your cabin except to shower & sleep. The activity level on our trip, kept us very busy, with little down time.

Good Luck, John

 

 

We are booked on Vantage's Russian River cruise as well as a pre-package to Kiev and post-package to the Baltics.

Vantage has us on the Tolstoy, which once was the top ship, but no longer, others have take the top billing. As Janet will tell you AMA's ship is newer and has larger cabins.

The advantage that Vantage offers is that you are in downtown hotels in Moscow and SP. I have researched the location of these hotels and both are walking distance from the key sites. This allows much flexibility for sightseeing when we are not on a Vantage tour. Vantage has us in Moscow for three nights and SP for four. There is free time even though we have signed up for most of the optional tours.

I like the ability of staying in a very nice hotel about a mile from Red Square or in SP about 1.5 miles from the Hermitage. We hope to visit eat at some different restaurants and maximize our Russian experience.

We don't mind having to go to a hotel, then unpack again. Instead of 14 days in a small cabin, we have 7, and 7 more in a nice hotel. Also, we avoid losing time in traffic getting from the boat to the sites.

We found that the cost of Vantage slightly higher than GCT, but very close to Viking (Viking has a lot of bad reviews for its RR cruises) and AMA. In fact, I think AMA was more expensive than Vantage (not much).

I suppose the trade-off is that AMA does have a better ship and you don't move for two weeks.

Take care with some of the other tours like Gate 1 or allRussia. These offer budget prices, but on older ships, with many tours costing extra. Also, fewer than 14 days on tour.

Can't wait, only 20 more days. Das Vadania.